Paper crowns (James Marriott)

Part 13: her true identity...

She took a deep breath in, before standing up out of her desk chair and turning to James.

"James?" She asked

"Yeah?"

"I need to show you something."

Silently, She took his hand, and walked him to her bedroom door. The door that had remained strictly closed around james for weeks.

"Your bedroom?" He asked, almost in a joking tone

"Well, kinda."

She opened the sealed door and took a step inside, still gripped firmly onto James's hand as she led him in.

The blue-tacked pictures of James had been taken off the wall, leaving small, dark marks where the photos used to be, clearly revealing she had taken posters down. She didn't want to seem too obsessed with him... not yet, at least.

But the photo collage of James wasn't what she wanted to show him. It was the huge setup she had at one corner of her room, and a massive sign up on her wall, including her signature colors and LEDs lighting up the name of her YouTube channel. Hanging above the computer. The thing that would reveal her identity.

Her eyes frantically darted around the room to desperately check if she had left out anything she needed to hide. But all seemed clear.

She broke the silence.

"This." She said, pointing to her setup and huge sign up on her wall.

Rennie has overthought this moment so much, replaying it over and over in her head. So many times she had lost sense of what James would say, just terrified he'd be angry at her for keeping It from him.

She looked up at James, who had been completely silent since she had walked him to her room.

He finally spoke

"You said you didn't watch her... I didn't know you where a fan" he seemed genuinely confused for a second, then his face lit up.

"No james its m-"
She started explaining

"Oh my fucking God, Rennie, it's you"

James looked at her, then back at the huge sign on her wall, then back at her again. Well, not so much at her, more her lips. But Rennie tried not to overthink it.

"I didn- wha- that's so cool, Ren but.. but why didn't you, you know. Tell me sooner? Like... I know you. and I had no clue."

"It's a long story, James."

"I've got all day."

________time skip________

Rennie's POV
_________

It was half an hour after Rennie revealed her true identity, and spent 15 minutes explaining why she didn't tell him sooner. And much to her surprise, he wasn't upset. Or angry, just understanding.

"want some food?" He asked, clicking onto the Uber eats app.

"McDonald's. Now." She said, jokingly serious

James scoffed

"What are you, five?" He fake-Mocked her, poking Rennie's arm.

"James don't lie... we all love a McNugget."

"Fair enough, fair enough."

Everything seemed to be going Absolutely perfect.

Once he ordered, they just sat there . Sort of absorbing each others company in silence for a second.

Rennie looked at James, inspecting him carefully. What where the chances she had gotten this close to the man of her dreams? Slim to none, she thought.
Yet here she was, sat in front of him. It was so easy... just lean In,
Finally pressing her lips against his, feeling his hands in her hair as he pulled her in closer, as the kiss deepened with slight desperation... both craving the taste of eachothers mouth.

"Rennie?" James smiled
But it was all just a daydream.

"Oh shit" she thought.
She had been staring at his lips this entire time, thinking about what it would be like to taste them.

"Umm I'm... im going to go to the toilet. I'll be back!"
She ran off, clearly he had noticed how much she was staring at him.

________James's POV________

It was a lot to process.
He's had suspicions, of course. But he thought it was impossible that he could have found Rennie so close to him in secret.

He had always wanted to get to know the person who goes by 'RennieGames'.

But she seemed so cold, so distant and shy when someone she didn't know completely was around.

And he'd be lying if he said he didn't have even a little crush on Rennie. The way she stumbles over her words when James was touching her, face bright red and blushing. And the way her face lit up when he bring up something she liked In conversation. Everything.
It wasn't a little crush, he was in love.

But perhaps the thing he found the most intriguing was how intensely shy she was.
Though the walls broke down once you earned her trust, and thankfully her and James had become increasingly close throughout their 'friendship'. Both emotionally and physically.

And he had always assumed these feelings where one sided, Rennie could get whoever she wanted, and an entire fandom was simping over her. Not to her surprise, of course. In his opinion, she was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen.
But perhaps he was wrong, and she did perhaps want him back, the small flirting had turned into more obvious signs. And sometimes he's just catch her staring at him.
His eyes, his lips, it didn't matter.

He heard the bathroom door unlock.

Maybe he should make a move. Just a little one

_______907 words __________________

A/N: hehe cliffhanger again

Also James made me cry on stream
😭😭😭😭